Jesus Creed

Women in the World of Jesus 6

Today’s post will examine what the ancient Jewish sources tell us about how women and the legal system.
First, what about Punishments and Judgments? Women were treated absolutely equally in matters pertaining to punishment. Because of Numbers 5:6 (where men and women are seen as equals), R. Ishmael said: “it [the scripture] has thus made it explicit in regard to all the laws about damages found in the Torah that women are to be regarded like men” (Mekhilta de R. Ishmael, Mishpatim 6; cf. also bYebamot 84b; bTemurah 2b; bQiddushin 35a). However, when it came to punishments (stoning, crucifixion, hanging, flogging), women were given more physical consideration (e.g., though a man was stoned naked, a woman was not; mSanhedrin 6:3). Cf. Jesus and the woman caught en flagrant (John 7:53-8:11).
Second, what about Women as Witnesses?Some evidence prohibits female legal witness: Josephus, Antiquities 4:219; Sifre Deuteronomy 190; bSanhedrin 27b. Other evidence permits female legal witness: tSanhedrin 5:2 – “testimony that a woman is qualified to give….” These included: the origin of a swarm of bees (mBaba Qamma 10:2), the death of someone’s husband (mYebamot 16:5), chastity or defilement of a female war captive (mKetubot 2:9; mSotah 6:2), the elder of twins if the woman is a midwife (tBaba Batra 7:2), and that a specific male was a priest (mKetubot 2:3). Because of this, it is unwise to make the simplistic claim that the use of women as witnesses to the resurrection would never have been believed — though I think it is a fair argument, it deserves to be nuanced.
It is safe and wise to see that there was a general prohibition that had many exceptions.
Third, what about Inheritance? The woman cannot be the legal heir of her husband’s estate and a daughter can be legal heir only if she has no brothers (Numbers 27:8). The wife inherited only her ketubbah (mBaba Batra 8:1). At the time of Jesus, debate ensued about daughters and inheritance and the laws were eventually developed that permitted daughters to inherit. Which led to principles of circumvention: men could write in extras into a woman’s ketubbah (bBaba Batra 138a-b; mKetubot 8:1; tKetubot 9:2) to ensure that a woman was maintained adequately.
And there was the issue of guardieanship: a man could appoint his wife as guardian of his estate after his death (here the wife does not “inherit” the property but benefits from it)(mKetubot 9:4, 6); and she could be guardian as well over the children (tTerumot 1:11; mBaba Batra 8:17).
Technorati tags:Women and ChristianityWomen and Ordination

[…] This post started out as a brief comment on one of Scot McKnight’s “Women in the world of Jesus” series, but it turned into something longer. I decided to post about it separately since it is a tangential issue. The following is from Part 6 of the series. […]

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Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.

Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.